Alienware Area-51 AAT2250 review

Let's not beat around the bush, you're here for the numbers. This rig is built around the Core Ultra 9 285K and that monster RTX 5090, and the results are, frankly, bonkers.

We ran it through the 3D Mark Time Spy Extreme benchmark, and it spat out a galactic average score of 22,286. That breaks down into a jaw-dropping 24,992 for the GPU and a mighty 13,814 for the CPU. But synthetic benchmarks are one thing, 4K gaming is the real test.

Doom: The Dark Ages at 4K with settings cranked to ‘Ultra Nightmare’ (because, of course), we switched on DLAA (that's native-res AI anti-aliasing) and left all upscaling and frame generation off. The result? A buttery-smooth 93FPS average.

Cyberpunk 2077, the classic rig-melter. At 4K, highest possible settings, and Ray Tracing set to ‘Psycho,’ the Area-51 held a rock-solid 50FPS average. Want to really push it? We enabled full Path Tracing (again, no upscaling help) and it still clung on at 31FPS.

These numbers are bang-on what we’d expect from a top-tier 5090 build, meaning Alienware's chassis isn't throttling this beast. The maximum core temperature was 68°C while playing Arc Raiders and Battlefield 6 for 2 hours straight. Even with the Cinebench stress test, the temperature was under 90°C. However, the fans are pretty loud and can raise the average room decibel and drown out the speakers while gaming or editing, headphones are recommended here.

There’s a SK hynix NVMe PCB01 Gen5 SSD inside this rig which is only 2TB, I wish Alienware put another Gen4 SSD as well to increase the storage capacity here as well. The SK Hynix gave us a 12,178MB/s of read and 12,710MB/s of write speeds. It’s a bit slower than the WD Black SN8100 2TB we tested earlier this year in terms of read speed, however, even while editing 4K videos, we never felt the SSD slacking. Scrubbing through timelines was snappy, I wish we could do it with 8K footage as well because most video editors might find Gen4 SSDs also to be fairly decent for 4K scrubbing. You also get two sticks of 32GB of DDR5 RAM from Kingston and it's clocked at 5600MT/s which is good for video editors, animators and game developers.There’s no RGB on it and I honestly prefer this look.

Alienware has never been the shy, retiring type, and the Area-51 is its biggest statement piece. This isn't a tower you tuck under your desk. It's a monolith you design your room around. It’s got that unmistakable sci-fi, probed-by-aliens aesthetic. Love it or hate it, you simply can't ignore it. It’s a conversation-starter, and given its sheer bulk, probably a shin-breaker, too.

So, what’s the catch? Well, this thing is thirsty. Whilst running Cyberpunk 2077 with all the ray-traced bells and whistles, we clocked the NVIDIA 5090 pulling a maximum average of 575 Watts, while the Intel CPU happily munched on 320 Watts.

Let's be clear, with a 1500W power sapper, performance per watt is not really a thing here, but performance galore is. This is a Bugatti; you don't ask about the kilometers-per-gallon. Impressively, the rig never broke a sweat. The fans did their job, keeping the entire system well within its thermal threshold, even without the luxury of an air-conditioned room. It might sound like a small MiG-29 taking off, but it absolutely refuses to melt.

What baffles me is that all the fans are intakes and Alienware is banking on the positive pressure that forces hot air out the rear vents which don’t have an exhaust fan. Strange but the numbers say that this method sort of works. My personal PC has a four fan intake in the front for cool air and AIO is mounted on top for exhaust, my desktop positioning against the wall pushes the hot air out better. The Alienware, on the other hand, throws all that heat in the rear and if the backside is facing a wall, you can create a hot pocket there so just be mindful of how you position this PC.

Taking the side panel off is also quite easy and making changes and upgrades to your system is also convenient. You can plonk in an extra SSD or two if you like easily or get Dell support to assist you. The back panel has slots for two Sata SSDs and one bay for 3.5in HDD. However, upgrading the core components might be tricky because Alienware has some proprietary stuff here. The PSU for instance, has some proprietary ports, even the GPU support bracket (although awesome), is proprietary. If you’re on the fence to build or buy, I recommend building a PC but if you just want a high-end no-nonsense 4K gaming rig then this is the best place to break the bank. Also, in my experience, Dell’s service has been absolutely stellar compared to competitions like Asus ROG and MSI. It’s this after-sales peace-of-mind that you’re paying that high price which I like to call the Dell premium tax.

If you’ve ever looked at your electricity bill and thought, ‘This is far too low’, Alienware has the solution. The Area-51 AAT2250 isn't just a fast PC, it is a love letter to ludicrous speed. We are talking about a spec sheet that reads like a lottery winner’s shopping list, packing the mythical Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 and an Intel Core Ultra 9 285K.

Does it perform? Absolutely. It vanquishes games rather than simply running them. We saw Doom: The Dark Ages running at a buttery-smooth 93FPS at 4K, and even the notorious rig-melter Cyberpunk 2077 held a rock-solid 50FPS with Ray Tracing set to ‘Psycho’. However, this monolith does have a few quirks. It sounds like a small MiG-29 taking off when under load, so noise-cancelling headphones are mandatory. The airflow strategy is also a bit odd, by relying on positive pressure without a rear exhaust fan, it creates a hot pocket at the back, so don't shove it flush against a wall unless you want to scorch the paint.

We also have a bone to pick with the storage. While the Gen5 SSD is rapid, 2TB feels a bit stingy for a machine that costs as much as a used car. Plus, the proprietary parts like the PSU and GPU bracket make future DIY upgrades a bit of a headache.

But you aren't just paying for the hardware. You are paying the "Dell premium tax" for stellar service and peace of mind that you simply don't get when building your own rig. If you want a no-nonsense, high-end 4K gaming destroyer and have the bank balance to back it up, this is the best place to break the bank.